(POV: Ryogaku)
I was with Alexia, separated from our group as soon as we went through the doorway.
There was a distinct and foul smell of rotting flesh in the room.
I looked up, and this room was like a maze, multiple bridges went from one wall to another, leading to no particular destination.
At the very top, there was a wider bridge, and at one end of it, there was a huge doorway.
I immediately knew that that was our only exit.
I looked at Alexia, who, although frightened, had steeled her resolve and had a new light of determination in her eyes.
I smiled a little, trying to hide my anxiety and comfort her.
I pointed to the top, she looked there and nodded.
"We jump from bridge to bridge until we reach it." I said, as I started the journey by jumping onto the nearest bridge to us, with Alexia following close behind.
The spiderweb-like layout of the bridges was quite confusing to navigate.
There were also many monsters on the way, mostly being E-Rank, who were quickly taken down by Alexia using ranged spells.
"Almost there," I shouted. Though there was a sense of unease in my mind, I tried to pass it off as a random thought.
As we arrived on the widest bridge on the top, we ran towards the exit, which was unguarded.
I was leading, while Alexia was right behind me.
Suddenly, my instincts screamed, as I heard a loud thud behind me.
Snapping my head backwards, I saw a gruesome sight.
Alexia was punched on to the floor by a huge monster, her now unconscious and bleeding.
A monster, which can only be described as a Minotaur stood near her.
A feeling started bubbling up in me, I hadn't felt this sensation in a long time.
That sensation that completely took over my mind and drowned all of my rational thoughts in its fury.
It wasn't fear, it was . . . Rage, I felt such immeasurable rage that I could not think of anything before I jumped towards the monster.
Why did I do that? I knew that this monster was stronger than him, it was a C-Rank...I was biting much more than I can chew.
But, my thought process was completely taken up by slashing this monster into pieces, and had no space left to think of life and death.
As if sensing my determination, my sword started emitting bright orange sparks, mirroring my rage.
The Minotaur, confident in its defense, did not try to dodge, but put up both hands seeking to stop the sword in its path.
But, contrary to its expectations, the sword went right through its hands, chopping them off by the wrists and creating a shallow wound on its chest.
The monster shrieked, its wounded parts burned with intense heat made it experience extreme pain.
A flesh of burning flesh reached my nose.
Now, driven by only the desire to kill me for harming him, it charged, coming at me with heavy steps that made the whole bridge vibrate.
I could see the sparks getting duller.
Driven only by the desire to kill, I, too, charged towards it.
We both exchanged blows, my sword hits all blocked or parried by it, not even making a single scratch on its skin.
The sounds of clashing metal echoed through the silence of the huge room.
Meanwhile, I sustained a lot of damage, its punches felt like cars hitting you on an expressway.
We both retreated, observing each other for the next move.
I could feel myself getting dizzy, blood dripping from my mouth due to its attacks, I could not help but think that this was the end.
My grip on the sword loosened, the sparks now completely disappearing.
"Run a...way, Ryo...gaku"
Painful memories flashed in my mind, my mother, stuck under the roof of our collapsed house, crying in pain as the fire engulfed her.
The man—the murderer—getting closer with each passing second.
"Run away as...far as you...can"
I ran away, not daring to look back at the horrifying scene.
Running through the forest, I heard a loud, high-pitched scream, which was undeniably my mother's.
Tears filled my eyes, she was dead, I was too weak to help her.
But I did not stop running, I ran, ran till I could no more run.
My eyes snapped open in the present.
My village, my family, they suffered at the hands of that man, I will not let my life end until he is destroyed.
I corrected my posture, my hand holding the sword tightly, adrenaline surging through my blood, I leapt towards the monster.
The sword glowed brighter, until it was completely engulfed in a bright red coating on the blade, with fiery orange flames erupting from it.
I swung the sword down, the monster tried to dodge, but was too late.
My sword went right through the middle of it, burning the bridge behind him in a straight line.
The two halves of the monster fell to the left and right.
I felt the most relieved I had ever in my life. The adrenaline finally died down, and I fell into a deep sleep, a smile plastered on my face.
.
My eyes opened, the dim light in the room momentarily blinding me. How long had I been out for?
I was lying on the ground, closer to the exit.
Getting up, I felt a soreness in my muscles, thankfully, most of the pain had completely disappeared.
Looking around me, I saw Alexia sweating hard and sitting with the support of the wall.
I quickly ran to her and supported her.
All she did in return was giving a small smile, saying "Thanks...for saving me."
She fell asleep, succumbing to the strain of extreme mana usage required to heal my body.
.
As soon as Alexia woke up, we went through the exit into the following rooms.
As Alexia was tired, she did not assist in battles, but I did not need help anyway, that singular battle had made me much stronger.
I could control the flame-coating of my sword, but it never went to the extent it went to when I fought the Minotaur.
Though, it highly increased the damage I could do.
We both did not run into anything that could endanger their lives after that.
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(With Anny and Johan)
Anny and Johan went through the exit of the room, this was their 5th room cleared.
As they both entered the room, they saw something weird, this room had no monsters, moreover, it had 4 paths to go to, one which they came from, one to the left of that path, another to the left of that path, and finally, one to the opposite side of the room to these three.
As they thought this they saw two figures coming from one of the paths.
The figures were of Alexia and Ryogaku.
"Ryo! Alexia!" shouted Johan as he ran to them.
"Johan!" said Ryogaku as he spotted them, relief clutching his mind as he saw his friends safe and sound
"You two fine?" asked Johan
"Well we almost died until Ryogaku here cut a C-Rank into two" said Alexia with a smile
"THAT'S SO COOL" shouted Johan.
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They talked for a little while, catching up to everything that happened with them up till now.
"So we can assume that Sukuna will come out of the third door, while the room opposite to the three is to the boss" said Alexia as she was sitting.
The four tried to rest while waiting for Sukuna.
"He is alone, even if he is strong, much more than all of us, he will still be having trouble in such a dungeon," Anny put up her thoughts, getting nods from all three.
"I just hope he is safe," Alexia said, as she held her hands together in worry.
As they were resting, Anny seemed to notice something, she pointed to the wall next to the door leading to the boss and said, "I think something is written on the wall there."
The other three looked at the wall and agreed, although it was far, they could vaguely see some writing on the wall.
All three of them went to the wall and saw some engraved writing that surprised them out of their minds.
They glanced at each other as if to ask whether they were seeing the same thing or not.
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"Ya'll took too long to come so I'm going ahead, cya at the boss room
. . . -S'kuna"
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Changes:
1. Added a flashback for Ryogaku
That's it...basically no changes this chapter, it'll stay the same for the dungeon arc I guess.
now, GIMME POWER STONES